The market for scientific memorabilia, scientific instruments and and
scientific documents and manuscripts has been undervalued for ... well,
forever. Our scientific heritage has long played second fiddle to entertainment, sports and religious memorabilia on the auction block, but movement is afoot.

The bidding strength at Christie's two big auctions in London yesterday indicates that the scientific heritage marketplace may be finally coming to its senses, with many landmark scientific works fetching quite respectable sums, and two lots selling into the top 20 most valuable scientific documents ever sold at auction.

$352,054 – Einstein's Pocket Watch

The Einstein highlight turned out not to be his leather jacket (as we expected), but his pocket watch, which fetched more than ten times its estimate. Predicted by Christies to sell for between £15,000 and £20,000, bidding kept going all the way to a hammer price of £220,000 which translated into £266,500 with buyers premium added and a final result in USD of $352,054.

$82,564 – Einstein's Childhood Building Blocks

Einstein's childhood building blocks were an even greater surprise package. Estimated to sell for between £5,000 to £8,000, the blocks saw the hammer fall at £50,000, which became £62,500 with buyers premium, or USD$82,564. We had a good laugh in the office this morning wondering what the buyer might do with the blocks. One theory was that there's a parent out there hoping that some residual genius might be be still on the surface of the blocks to rub off on their children, another is that the 160 building blocks could be separated and sold individually (they cost the buyer more than $500 apiece so heaven knows what the asking price might be for each block to make it all worthwhile), and a third theory was that they might be replicated and sold as a set. Of course it could always be a genuine collector who purchased the blocks but ... time will tell.

A pocket watch, leather jacket and some building blocks may have
created the interest in the auctions, but it was the world's most famous flower book,
the original book on heliocentric theory and a number of landmark works
by Sir Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Schoner and Luca Pacioli that really lit up Christie's London sales.

$2,550,247 – Hortus Eystettensis by Basilius Besler

The 400 year-old Hortus Eystettensis by Basilius Besler attracted considerable interest from around the globe as one of just 15 complete copies of the "most famous flower book in the world."

It was already the second most valuable flower book in history with a copy having sold for £993,750 ($1,413,619) at a Christies London auction in November, 2001 so it was no surprise to see it fetch considerably more than the estimate of £800,000 to £1,200,000 (US$1.2 to $1.6 million). When the hammer fell, the final all up price took the book to £1,930,500 ($2,550,247) and a place just outside the top 10 scientific books of all time. The most valuable 'flower book' of all time is currently Les Liliacées by Pierre-Joseph Redouté which sold for $5,500,000 at a Sotheby's (New York) auction in November, 1985.

$415,464 – Sidereus Nuncius by Galileo Galilei

Sidereus Nuncius is one of the landmark scientific publications in history. Written by Italian polymath Galileo Galilei
(1564 - 1642), the book introduced the world to his astronomical discoveries made using
his home-made telescope, and is hence the foundation work of modern
astronomy. Even the word "telescope" was not even coined until the year
after this book was published – Galileo refers to the device in this
book as a "perspicillum."

Galileo did not invent the telescope,
but when he heard about the device being built in Holland in 1609, he
set about making his own. Within a few months, he had improved upon his first X9
magnification to a X32 magnification, pointed it towards the heavens and
then published his observations in this book in 1610. Those observations
included the first details of Jupiter's four moons and his revelations
about galaxies such as the Milky Way consisting of numerous stars. The drawings he made of the craters of the moon were published
in this book for the first time and, building upon the previously
published work of Nicolaus Copernicus, helped to
change mankind's understanding of the universe from a geocentric
(everything revolves around the Earth) model to a heliocentric (centered
on the Sun) model.

$320,350 – Le operazioni del compasso geometricoby Galileo Galilei

A rare first edition of Galileo's first printed work and the first published work on an analogue calculator, which Galileo had begun manufacturing in 1597. The book is believed to be one of only 60 copies produced by Galileo for patrons and buyers of his "geometrical and military compass." Galileo's sector was based
on the proportional compass, an instrument first developed by Federico Commandino (1509 – 1575), but Galileo's version included numerous
additions and improvements that rendered it the most useful mathematical
instrument of its period. As a calculating device,
Galileo's compass remained unsurpassed until the advent of the slide
rule in the mid-19th-century. The book sold for £242,500 ($320,350).

$383,759 – Aequatorium Astronomicum by Johannes Schöner

Johannes Schöner (1477 – 1547) was a priest with an interest in mathematics and astronomy and became one of the most influential figures of the period. His own printing press produced this book, which is a rarer occurrence than even the book itself, with only five copies extant, and this being the first time one has ever gone to auction. The reason it is so important is that it is the first book to contain printed equatoria, and the first book to contain printed instruments which predict the position of the planets. One of the many benefits of the newly invented printing press at the time, was the ability to create printed instruments – a significant saving in cost over metallic instruments. Schöner was also the person who persuaded Georg Joachim
Rheticus to make his famous journey to meet
Nicolaus Copernicus, resulting in the publication of De Libris Revolutionum in 1540, and of the landmark De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium in 1543. Schöner was also responsible for producing the
first pair of globes of the same size to represent the Earth and the
heavens, thereby establishing the standard practice of pairing
terrestrial and celestial globes.

No single published body of work has ever had the impact upon the world that this book did. Principia and Newton's subsequent Opticks both became cornerstones of scientific thought. Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was knighted in 1705 by Queen Anne, but there have been many people knighted for far less justification. Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica was the culmination of the scientific revolution, effectively ushering in the era of modern science and modern physics with its mathematical explanations for gravity and motion. Albert Einstein best summed it up with the words, "perhaps the greatest intellectual stride that it has ever been granted to any man to make." Isaac Newton composed the work during 1685 and 1686, it was published on 5 July 1687 and the world record price for a copy is $2,517,000 set at a Christie's (New York) auction in December, 2013. This copy of Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematicasold for £266,500 ($352,054).

$256,940 – Divina Proportione by Luca Pacioli

Franciscan friar Luca Pacioli is one of history's most influential figures. For starters, he was the man who taught mathematics to Leonardo da Vinci, but he is significantly more important than that because his publication Summa di Aritmetica Geometria Proporzioni e Proporzionalita was the first work on general mathematics ever printed, and most importantly, it was the first book to offer a detailed description of the double-entry accounting system,
making Pacioli the "Father of Accounting". Many of the illustrations
for Divina Proportione were done by Pacioli's star pupil, Leonardo. This particular book is a first edition and contains three works, being Divina Proportione (a summary of Euclid's propositions on the
golden section), a second work on architecture, inspired by Vitruvius and
Alberti, and an
Italian translation of a Latin treatise of geometry by Piero della
Francesca. Rare and in excellent condition, the book sold for £194,500 ($256,940).

Einstein's <a href="http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/watches/einstein-albert-6012466-details.aspx?from=searchresults&pos=37&intObjectID=6012466&sid=" rel="nofollow">pocket watch</a> fetched more than ten times it's estimate. Predicted by Christies
to sell for between £15,000 and £20,000, bidding kept going all the way
to a hammer price of £220,000 which translated into £266,500 with
buyers premium added and a final result in USD of $352,054.

<a href="http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/books-manuscripts/besler-basilius-hortus-eystettensis-nuremberg-1613-6012489-details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=6012489&sid=b3342cfe-91a5-4c1b-98be-bb11051a6076" rel="nofollow">The 400 year-old 'Hortus eystettensis'</a>
by Basilius Besler is one of just 15 complete copies of the "most famous flower book
in the world." It was already the second most valuable flower book in history with <a href="http://www.christies.com//lotfinder/lot/basilius-besler-3822607-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=3822607&sid=0d40771e-165e-4603-adad-d1785533009b" rel="nofollow">a copy having sold for £993,750 ($1,413,619) at a Christies London auction in November, 2001</a>
so it was no surprise to see it fetch considerably more than the
estimate of £800,000 to £1,200,000 (US$1.2 to $1.6 million). When the
hammer had fallen, the final all up price took the book to £1,930,500
($2,550,247) and a place just outside the top 10 scientific books of all
time.

'Sidereus nuncius' is one of the landmark scientific publications in history. Written by Italian polymath Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642), the book introduced the world to his astonomical discoveries made using his home-made telescope, and is hence the foundation of modern astronomy. This copy sold for £314,500 ($415,464), with the record price for the book being $662,500 which was achieved at a <a href="http://www.christies.com//lotfinder/books-manuscripts/galilei-galileo-sidereus-nuncius-magna-longequ-5388529-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5388529&sid=a3edac37-0dec-4894-b57e-a07fe045bfdb" rel="nofollow">Christie's (New York) auction in December, 2010.</a>

A rare first edition of Galileo's first printed work and the first published work on an analogue calculator which he had begun manufacturing in 1597. The book is believed to one of only 60 copies produced by Galileo for patrons and buyers his 'geometrical and military compass'. Galileo's sector was based on the proportional compass, an instrument first developed by Commandino, but Galileo's version included numerous additions and improvements that rendered it the most useful mathematical instrument of its period. As a calculating device, Galileo's compass remained unsurpassed until the advent of the slide rule in the mid-19th-century. The book sold for £242,500 ($320,350).

Johannes Schöner was a priest with an interest in mathematics and
astronomy and became one of the most influential figures of the period.
His own printing press produced this book which is very rare. Only five
copies are known to still exist, and this is the first time one has ever
gone to auction. The reason it is so important is that it is the first
book to contain printed equatoria, and the first book to contain printed
instruments which predict the position of the planbets. Schöner was
also the person who persuaded Georg Joachim
Rheticus to make his famous journey to meet
Nicolaus Copernicus, resulting in the publication of the book above, and
eventually, the publication of the landmark 'De revolutionibus orbium
coelestium' in 1543. Schöner was also responsible for producing the
first pair of globes of the same size to represent the Earth and the
heavens, thereby establishing the standard practice of pairing
terrestrial and celestial globes. This copy of <a href="http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/books-manuscripts/schoner-johannes-aequatorium-astronomicum-ad-lectorem-6011093-details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=6011093&sid=4c5fbb68-ffed-4a4a-a617-bf5dde658015" rel="nofollow">'Aequatorium astronomicum' fetched £290,500 ($383,759)</a>.

There may be more beautiful books, with astonishing writing, caligraphy, illustration, photography and craftsman, but no one single published body of work has ever had the impact upon the world that this book did. Principia and Newton's subsequent 'Opticks' both became cornerstones of scientific thought. Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was knighted in 1705 by Queen Anne, but there have been many people knighted for far less justification. Newton's "Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica" was the culmination of the scientific revolution, effectively ushering in the era of modern science and modern physics with its mathematical explanations for gravity and motion. Albert Einstein best summed it up with the words, "perhaps the greatest intellectual stride that it has ever been granted to any man to make." Isaac Newton <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_of_Principia_Mathematica" rel="nofollow">composed Principia Mathematica during 1685 and 1686</a>, it was published on 5 July 1687 and the world record price for a copy is $2,517,000 set at a <a href="http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/books-manuscripts/newton-sir-isaac-philosophiae-naturalis-principia-5754427-details.aspx" rel="nofollow">Christie's (New York) auction in December, 2013. </a>This copy of 'Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica' <a href="http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/books-manuscripts/newton-sir-isaac-philosophiae-naturalis-principia-6011075-details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=6011075&sid=4c5fbb68-ffed-4a4a-a617-bf5dde658015" rel="nofollow">sold for £266,500 ($352,054)</a>.

Franciscan friar <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Pacioli" rel="nofollow">Luca Pacioli</a> is one of history's most influential figures. For starters, he was the man who taught mathematics to Leonardo da Vinci, but he is significantly more important than that because his publication <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summa_de_arithmetica" rel="nofollow">Summa di aritmetica geometria proporzioni e proporzionalita</a> was the first work on general mathematics ever printed, and most importantly, it was the first book to offer a detailed description of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-entry_bookkeeping_system" rel="nofollow">double-entry accounting system</a>, making Pacioli the "Father of Accounting". Many of the illustrations for 'Divina Proportione' were done by Pacioli's star former pupil, Leonardo. This particular book is a first edition and contains three works, being 'Divina Proportione' (a summary of Euclid's propositions on the golden section), a second work on architecture, inspired by Vitruvius and Alberti, and an Italian translation of a Latin treatise of geometry by Piero della Francesca. Rare and in excellent condition, <a href="http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/books-manuscripts/pacioli-luca-divina-6011080-details.aspx?from=salesummary&pos=4&intObjectID=6011080&sid=4c5fbb68-ffed-4a4a-a617-bf5dde658015&page=6&lid=1" rel="nofollow">the book sold for £194,500 ($256,940).</a>